(Above and bottom right): Travis Cano ’11 captured the Space Shuttle Endeavour above Moffett Field in San Jose, Calif.
(Bottom left): J.D. Ross ’98 photographed the Endeavour as it took off from Edwards Air Force Base in Edwards, Calif.

Photographers across the country trained their lenses on the skies last month, as the Space Shuttle Endeavour took its final voyage. Over the course of three days, Endeavour—perched atop a 747 airplane—made its way from Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Los Angeles, where it will go on display at the California Science Center.

The three-stage cross-country trip was designed by NASA with a number of low altitude fly-bys, to show off Endeavour in the sky to the American public.

The space agency encouraged onlookers to share their sightings of the airborne spectacle on social media via the hashtags #spottheshuttle and #OV105, Endeavour’s “vehicle designation.”

Two Rensselaer alumni shared their shots with Rensselaer and the social media world.
Travis Cano ’11, an information technology graduate who works for Cisco Systems in San Jose, Calif., captured the special moment on Sept. 21 at Moffett Field, the location of the NASA Ames Research Center. As a freshman, Cano took part in a Navigating Rensselaer and Beyond (NRB) program, the “Poly Press Pass” program, which offered students an opportunity to capture various NRB events across campus. He ended up joining the Poly photography staff.

“I picked the NRB event because I loved photography,” Cano said. “By joining the Poly, I got to learn about and appreciate photojournalism.”

J.D. Ross ’98, communications director at the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University, photographed the Endeavour as it took off from Edwards Air Force Base. Coincidentally, alumnus Frank Batteas ’77, who serves as associate director forperations at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif., flew the first leg of the shuttle’s flight from Florida to California.